Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to present to you today.
My name is Ray Orb, and I am president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, or SARM.
SARM was incorporated in 1905, and we represent all of the 296 rural municipalities in the province. As part of our act of incorporation, we must engage in any activity that furthers the interests of agriculture.
Historically, agriculture has been the backbone of our Saskatchewan economy, and today it continues to be a major contributing force.
Saskatchewan harvested 32 million tonnes of crops in 2015, livestock revenues reached $2.6 billion in 2015, and Saskatchewan exports of agri-food products reached $15.3 billion, so the agriculture sector in our province is strong and will continue growing in order to continue feeding the world.
The agriculture policy framework has been an important program that provides support to the agriculture sector. It is this support that ensures that the agriculture sector is able to continue developing at efficient and sustainable levels.
As Growing Forward 2begins to wind down, we are now starting to look forward to the next agricultural policy framework. SARM would like to see specifically AgriStability returned to its previous version, as was seen in Growing Forward 1. When the coverage decreased from 85% to 70%, AgriStability decreased in its ability to help the middle class.
We are finding that producer uptake at AgriStability has been decreasing, as the program is not as beneficial as it once was. SARM believes that the middle class in Saskatchewan would benefit greatly from restoring the old coverage. This would provide relief to thousands of middle-class families and would make a difference as they work to balance their family budgets.
AgriInvest is another program SARM would like to see amended. At 1% contribution rates, AgriInvest funds are likely to be inadequate to provide meaningful support during periods of severe income declines.
Matched producer contribution rates should be increased to allow for greater funds access, and SARM believes there should be increased federal investments in production insurance through increasing its contributions to the premium and improving coverage options.
Where possible, simplification of the administration of these programs should be implemented in order to ensure that funding flows faster to producers and that less is spent on administration.
Access to non-potable water in rural Saskatchewan is also an issue for producers, as they require water for their operations.
The farm and ranch water infrastructure program provides valuable funding to support the development of water resources in rural areas. Developing water sources is integral to the well-being of a community and essential to the agriculture industry. Enhancing water resources in a community is an important economic driver, and SARM wants to ensure that the funding remains in place for the development of non-potable water resources for rural areas.
Another area that SARM would like given consideration is in regard to climate change mitigation and the environment. As producers adopt the latest technologies and machinery to reduce their carbon footprint, support in the form of rebates or grants would provide an incentive for all producers to continue being environmental stewards and reducing climate change.
Building further on the environment, the importance of the agri-environmental group plans will likely grow in importance.
Providing education and awareness on environmental issues is important as we fight to reduce climate change and as Canada enters into new trade agreements under which new requirements may be expected of producers. It is important that producers have readily available access to this information to ensure that they are in compliance with any requirements that may result from these trade agreements.
SARM has been very vocal in opposition to a federally imposed carbon tax, as it would have negative consequences for the agriculture sector. A carbon tax would not just affect a farmer's use of fuel; it would also affect other inputs, such as farm fertilizers and farm chemicals. Producers are unable to pass these costs on to the consumers, as they are price-takers. This means that as the cost of all inputs rises because of a carbon tax, producers are left absorbing that into their bottom lines.
The agriculture sector cannot afford a carbon tax, which doesn't support the sector's goal of feeding the world as global demand and the populations continue to increase.
These are the areas that SARM would like taken into consideration as the next agricultural policy framework is made.
SARM is willing to examine areas of interest and need. Examples include labour shortages in agriculture and the temporary foreign worker program.
Thank you for the opportunity to present today. I would be pleased to answer questions.